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value equal to, if not greater than, alfalfa. Already experiments 

 have shown that all horse stock prefer these hays to those im- 

 ported from California, which they only eat when there is noth- 

 ing else. This new industry would seem to open another avenue 

 of profit to the homesteader. 



In passing, it may be said that the county fair has come to 

 stay. It has done much and will do more to promote and de- 

 velop the various industries established here and to put this Ter- 

 ritory on a self-supporting basis. The idea of having a terri- 

 torial fair at regular intervals, as so strongly advocated at the 

 last Civic Convention, is more in the right direction and should 

 receive the unqualified support of all. 



Lichen Flora of the Hawaiian Islands 



By Vaughan MacCaughev, 

 Professor of Botany, College of Hcncaii. 



It is to be greatly regretted that botanical science does not yet 

 possess a monographic account of the Hawaiian lichens. These 

 remarkable plants (composed of algae and fungi living together 

 in composite bodies) are very abundant in all parts and zones of 

 the Islands. They are common in the rain-forests, in the semi- 

 arid sections, in streamways, on the faces of palis, in and near 

 the mouths of lava-tubes and caverns, along the strand, on the 

 arid lava flows and in the excessively boggy summit regions. 



On the newer lava fields the lichens form the sole vegetation, 

 and constitute the first invaders. These forms are whitish or 

 grayish in color, and contrast sharply with the glistening black 

 or dull brown of their rocky substratum. In the ascent of Mauna 

 Loa or Mauna Kea one may find every stage of the invasion of 

 lava fields by lichens, mosses, ferns, and seed-plants. On the 

 older flows one frequently finds patches of lichen so abundant as 

 to hide the rock. These lichens are wholly of the crustaceous 

 type, with a growing periphery, and a quiescent or dead central 

 area. Very old lichens may attain diameters of 18-20 inches, 

 but in these cases the central area is dead and usually absent. 



A species of Usnea, U. aiistralis, is abundant on trees in some 

 of the xerophytic groves that occupy ancient lava beds. Pelea 

 multiflora, for example, is often draped with a ragged shroud of 

 this lichen. The bark of certain trees and shrubs, as the citrus 

 group, native hibiscus, mango, etc., seems to be particularly fa- 

 vorable for the growth of lichens. The soap tree. Sapindiis 

 saponaria, frequently supports a heavy lichen growth. The semi- 

 arid groves along the upper ridges of the \\^aianae mountains are 

 characterized by heavy growths of usnea and other branching 

 lichens. It should be noted that the lichens do not derive their 



